


The Rose

by danniphant



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Based on a song, M/M, Multi, Nico sings a little, Post-Series, Quests, Search for Apollo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-04 07:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3016070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danniphant/pseuds/danniphant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will and Nico go on a quest to find Apollo, who has been imprisoned by Zeus. Along the way they meet old and new friends, learn the meaning of emotional baggage, and discover the true meaning of sacrifice. Can Nico learn to be happy? Can he be the exception to the curse that befalls the children of Hades?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Infirmary: Day One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is my first story on here. I hope you enjoy it! Bear with me, as I am still learning the ins and outs of this site.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise this will be good, but I hope it isn't bad. Enjoy!

Nico couldn't stop his heart from racing. Had he really just told Percy that he had liked him? Part of it seemed like a dream, but if the nauseated yet relieved feeling he had meant anything, it was that what had just happened was all too real. Apparently his anxiety was obvious, because when he made it back to Will Solace as promised, the son of Apollo's smile was replaced with a worried frown.

"Are you okay? You look like you are going to be sick." Will asked, clearly half afraid that Nico was going to pass out on him or something.

Nico fought back a smile at the other teens question. He felt absolutely horrible, but yet light at the same time, like he was finally free from a prison he wasn't aware he was trapped in. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just getting some stuff off my chest I guess."

Will's eyebrow rose at the response, as if he didn't quite believe what Nico had told him, but didn't press the subject any further. Instead he grabbed Nico by the shoulder and led him to the Big House. Nico had never been to the infirmary before. Partially because he was never at camp long enough to go there, but also because he didn't think a child of the underworld would be a welcome visitor to a place where the sick and dying were kept. Even before they made it to the medical area he could feel the death hanging in the air. Knowing he was so close to those that were about to die made him uneasy, as if just being in the vicinity could make their condition worse. Once they were in the infirmary, Will led him to the back corner of the room, where curtains had been drawn around the cot there. Nico immediately went and sat on the cot, waiting for instruction from the healer.

"I am gonna need you to put these on" Will told him, tossing him a pair of scrubs. 

"Uh, no thanks. I think I prefer the tropical shirt" Nico replied with a look of disgust.

Will gave him a look that made the butterflies in his stomach resurface for what seemed like the millionth time that day. It was somewhere between a stern, authoritative glare and an affectionate gaze. Both made Nico feel weird in a way that he couldn't describe.

"Your shirt is in tatters and covered in blood and dirt. It will only make my job harder if your wounds get infected. Plus you've been wearing that shirt for days." Will insisted. "So hurry up, I have a few questions I need to ask you before we can get started."

Nico waited until Will had left the area before looking at the scrubs. They were a pale, pastel yellow and quite possibly the ugliest things he had ever seen. Not to mention the fact that they were at least 2 sizes bigger than what he normally wore. He really didn't want to wear them, but he knew that Will was right. If he wanted to get better at all he needed to follow all of the instructions he was given. Besides, he promised to do what Will asked him to do, and although Nico was many things, he wasn't a person to break a promise.

After changing into the scrubs, Nico sat down on the cot, waiting for Will to come back. A few minutes went by, and he began to get impatient. Part of him wanted to get up and try to find Will, or at least throw back the curtain to see what was going on in the rest of the infirmary, but he wasn't sure if he wanted anyone to know he was there. Fortunately, he didn't have to make that decision, because Will came back to Nico's makeshift room. 

"Sorry to make you wait, Connor cracked his head open on the climbing wall agai-." He stopped short once he saw Nico sitting unhappily on the cot, looking like he was lying under a blanket, rather than wearing the scrubs. After a few seconds, Will began to laugh loudly, making Nico blush heavily.

"It's not funny, Solace." Nico warned, his voice wavering a little.

"I'm sorry, but you just look so-"

"Hideous? Yeah you don't have to tell me" Nico interrupted. Immediately Will stopped laughing, his smile faltering.

"No! I was going to say adorable, to be honest. You look like a kitten drowning in a blanket rather than the son of Hades." He said.  
"Oh." Nico replied, unsure of how else to respond.

"However, yellow is definitely not a good look for you" Will teased, walking over to the cot and sitting next to Nico. "I'd stick with the black if I were you. You definitely look more attractive in darker colors." 

Nico stared at Will in confusion. Surely Will wasn't flirting with him? No, he decided. Will was just being friendly, he was sure of it.

"You, uh, were gonna ask me some questions?" He asked. 

Will nodded and looked down at the clipboard he was holding. "Right. So I need your name and date of birth"

"Nico di Angelo, January 28th, 1932"

"Height and weight?"

Nico shrugged nonchalantly. "I honestly have no idea, but if I had to guess I'd say about 5' 3" and 100 pounds?"

Will gave him a once over, as if validating Nico's guess, before writing it down. "I guess that is about right. I would normally use a scale and all that to get exact measurements, but the Hermes cabin rigged it to always say 300 pounds and it's inaccurate now. Now take off your shirt."

Nico blanched. "What? Why?"

"To look at your wounds. I know you have at least one." Will answered, hooking the clipboard up on the end of the cot.

Begrudgingly, Nico did as he was asked, wincing a little as the fabric brushed his werewolf scratches the wrong way. Will immediately noticed the gashes, partially because of Nico's audible wincing, but mainly because the skin around them was swollen and bright red, and the wounds themselves were oozing with green pus. His eyes widened. 

"What the hell happened? These are the most badly infected wounds I think I have ever seen!" Will shouted.

"Uh...werewolf? Reyna stitched them up as best she could, but they won't heal." Nico replied.

"Werewolf...of course. I should have known that. Now then thebestwaytodealwiththoseisusuallycleaningandgeneralantibioticsbutthenagainyouonlypromisedmethreedaysandidontthinkthesecouldhealinthreedayswithnormalhealingontopofyourissueswithfadingduetotheshadowtravelsoIguessIwillhavetoresorttomygodlygiftsopleasedon'thatemebecausethisisgonnasuckalittleandImayburstyoureardrums."

Will was talking so fast that Nico could barely catch what he was saying. "Say what now?"

Will paused, realizing how fast he had been talking. "Sorry. In short, your wounds are too severe to heal normally, so I'll have to use my special healing power my dad gave me. However, it involves using my worst talent and it might burst your eardrums."

"Uh. Okay." Nico answered, "Do what you need to, I guess." 

He didn't expect Will's hands to be so warm, and had to stop himself from blushing when Will touched his arm. He heard Will start to hum to himself, before building into a verse in Ancient Greek. Before long, Nico noticed that the pain began to leave his arm, as well as some of the redness. Will had his eyes closed, his mouth forming the words effortlessly. Awestruck, Nico watched him, spacing out. Too soon, the healer stopped, removing his hands from the wounds. 

"Wow." Nico breathed, catching Will's blue eyes with his own as they opened. Will stared back, his eyes gleaming. 

"Yeah." 

The reverie was broken by one of Will's siblings bursting into the room. 

"Will! Clarisse broke her leg again fighting with a Hephaestus kid and we need you stat!" She shouted, not immediately noticing the boys. 

Nico quickly looked away, grabbing his shirt and putting it back on. Will stood up, affirming to his sister that he would be there shortly. He then turned to Nico, an apologetic look on his face. 

"Sorry, duty calls, I guess." He said. "You stay here and I will be back when I can. If you get hungry or anything just call and someone will come and bring it to you." 

Will turned and and started to walk out of the room. 

"Wait." Nico called. Will's hand stopped before moving the curtain.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning to look at Nico.

"You aren't as bad of a singer as you think. Are you good? No. But you are definitely better than some people I know." 

Will grinned at him. Nico could feel his neck starting to burn. "Now go do your healer stuff. Patient's orders!" 

Will's smile got even wider and he started to chuckle. "Gotcha, Death Boy." He said before leaving the room.

As the curtain fell back, Nico fell back onto the pillows, wondering what had just happened. He lifted up his sleeve and examined his wounds. Although they weren't completely healed, they looked a lot better. Nico smiled to himself. Maybe his dad was right. He could be happy. Not now, but eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wills rant: Werewolf...of course. I should have known that. Now then the best way to deal with those is usually cleaning and general antibiotics but then again you only promised me three days and I don't think these could heal in three days with normal healing on top of your issues with fading due to the shadow travel so I guess I will have to resort to my godly gift so please don't hate me because this is gonna suck a little and I may burst your eardrums.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please review if you can, I'd appreciate it!


	2. Infirmary Day 1: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't wait any longer to write chapter two so you get it a day early! Hope you enjoy it.

Time seems to move slower when you are waiting. Especially, Nico thought, when there is nothing to do. He couldn’t tell how many times he counted the ceiling tiles and the floor planks that he could see, but he could definitely tell you that the answers were 250 and 56, respectively. He wondered when Will was coming back. Surely some minor injuries don’t take long to heal, right? In addition, Nico was getting hungry. He knew that Will had told him to let one of the other Apollo kids if he was hungry, but the idea of asking someone for help unsettled him. So instead he went back to counting the tiles again.

“1...2...3…” he mumbled, laying flat on his back for a better view.

“Whatcha counting?” A voice inquired. Startled, Nico quickly sat up. He hated to admit it but he still had that voice ingrained into his head.

“Percy? What are you doing here?” 

Percy shrugged, as if he himself wasn’t sure. Nico’s gaze landed on what Percy was carrying. 

“Is that food?”

“Yeah, well you weren’t at dinner and someone said that they had seen you in heading here with Will so I figured I’d bring you some food.” Percy said, crossing the room to sit on the cot next to Nico. Nico chuckled a little as he took the food. Spaghetti, his favorite.

The boys sat there in silence for a few minutes, with Nico occasionally slurping his spaghetti. 

“So uh, can we talk?” Percy finally said, subconsciously scratching at his legion tattoo. 

Nico looked up at the older boy. Suddenly it felt like the air in the room disappeared. He knew what Percy meant, but he had no idea how to proceed. Was this the part where Percy laughed and told him that they couldn’t be friends? He had seen some of the ghosts in the Underworld who had died because of things like that. The thought of it scared him out of his wits.

“I-I guess.” He managed to stammer out.

Percy seemed to pick up on his nervousness.

“Oh! Don’t worry, I’m not mad or anything. You just kinda ran off earlier and I didn’t get a chance to process what you said.”

“Oh.” Nico replied. 

“So…I guess what I wanted to ask was how long?” Percy said.

“I realized it after the Battle of Manhattan.” 

Nico couldn’t believe how easy it was now to talk to Percy, as if all the barriers around him had dropped. There were no traces of residual feelings, no heartache at the resignation to unrequited feelings. It confused him. 

“And, uh, I’m not your type?” Percy continued.

Nico fought back a smile. Of course out of the entire exchange, that would be line that Percy would focus on. 

“No. Not that you aren’t attractive, but I think it was mostly just hero worship, not an actual crush. I mean, the very first time I saw you you were killing a manticore, it’s hard not to imprint on someone like that.” 

Percy nodded. “You uh, know I’m fine with you being, uh whatever you are. It doesn’t bother any of us. We just want you to be happy and healthy.”

Nico let himself smile. A few days ago he would have killed for Percy to have romantic feelings for him, but now he felt elated that he had a friend in the son of Poseidon. He wondered if it was his dad’s blessing that was giving him this fortune and happiness, or the calm before a storm. He really hoped it wasn’t the latter.

Percy smiled back, a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. “So if tall, dark and awesome isn’t your type, what is?”

Nico couldn’t stop the blush that seemed to cover his entire body. 

“I don’t know what you mean.” He said.

Percy laughed. “Well surely you must have your eye on someone if you fell out of like with someone as amazing as me.”

Nico laughed, lightly shoving Percy in the shoulder. “You are as bad as Leo.”

Realizing what he said, he stopped laughing. “Well, as bad as Leo was.”

Percy smiled sadly. “Well, someone has to be, and it sure as hell ain’t gonna be Jason.”

They both began laughing again.

Will then came into the area, looking at the pair laughing. He picked up Nico’s half eaten plate of spaghetti and proceeded to move about the room, letting the boys talk. Nico’s eyes followed the blonde around the room, and soon Percy noticed the look Nico was giving the other boy. Smirking, he grinned at Nico, his eyes dancing as if to say ‘Gotcha’. Nico glared at him. 

“So Percy, what are you going to do later?” Nico asked, changing the subject. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Will turning his head to pay attention to the conversation.

Not noticing, Percy grinned and began to talk about visiting his mother and his stepfather, but Nico didn’t pay attention, instead continuing to watch Will out of the corner of his eye. 

“...and she is so gonna kill me for my tattoo but what can I say I had amnesia. Oh! I keep forgetting to tell you. My mom wants you to come visit. She worries about you, you know.”

Nico turned back to Percy, surprise evident on his face. “She does?”

Percy’s face softened. “Of course she does, why wouldn’t she?”

“Well for one, she’s only met me once. Two, I’m literally the king of ghosts. I’m creepy and everyone is scared of me. That’s -”

Nico was cut off by Percy pulling him into a hug. 

“Don’t say stuff like that. You of all the people I know deserve to be happy.” Percy whispered into his hair. Nico didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t had this much affection from the boy at all in the years he had known him and was at a loss at how to react. 

“As touching as this is, I’m going to have to kick you out, Jackson.” Will suddenly said, lifting Percy up off the cot and pushing him out, despite Percy’s protests. Closing the curtain, Will turned back to Nico.

“Alright, let’s look at those wounds again.”

“What the hell was that for, Solace?” Nico said whilst pulling off his shirt, anger evident in his voice. “That was rude and you know it.”

Will said nothing, choosing instead to check over Nico’s wounds. He moved briskly, as if he was irritated. “Well your wounds are looking a lot better than they were earlier. How do they feel?”

“Uhm better I guess. You never answered my question.”

“I needed to check your progress and I don’t like people just being in the way while I work, okay?” Will responded.

Nico knew he was lying, but decided to not press it further. Will continued to look over his body, frowning deeper and deeper as he did so. 

“You show signs of major fatigue as a result of sleep deprivation. When was the last time you slept because you wanted to, not because you had no choice?” He questioned.

Nico bowed his head. “Months. I can’t sleep normally. Not since-”

“Not since what?” Will asked, his voice softening.

“Nevermind. It’s just been a while.” Nico said. 

“Alright. You do realize you need to sleep sometime though, right?”

Nico shrugged. He didn’t want to admit that as much as he wanted to sleep, he was scared to. The once peaceful sleep he had enjoyed years ago was now riddled with crippling nightmares. Especially since Tartarus and the Death Trance. Sometimes he couldn’t tell what was a dream and what was reality. Therefore he avoided sleeping as much as possible. Approaching footsteps alerted Nico to someone’s presence, and he looked up in time to see Piper walking through the curtains.

“I’m sorry. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Nico blanched. “Oh hell no,” he screeched,looking at Will with alarm. “You are not going to have her charm me to sleep.”

“Relax. I’m only here to talk.” Piper said, a soothing tone to her voice. 

Will stood up. “I’ll be back in a minute. Entertain him, will you Piper?”

Piper nodded and sat down where Will had just been. Nico watched as Will left, a frown on his face.

“It’s alright, Nico. I’m not going to bite.” Piper said, putting her hand on Nico’s wrist. “I just wanted to ask you something.”

Nico just stared at her, silently urging her to go on.

“When Leo died, you felt him, you know, die. Right?” She asked, grief filling her eyes. 

Nico felt torn. Part of him wanted to tell her that Leo was alive and that he would be back soon, but he had felt Leo’s soul leave the living world and, as far as he knew, the soul had not come back.   
“Yes.” Nico finally said. “I felt his soul leave this world. I’m so sorry.”

Piper nodded, tears filling her eyes. “I can’t hope that your ability is shotty and you could be wrong, can I?”

“I’ve never been wrong before.” Nico said sadly. 

Piper smiled, wiping the tears away with her hand. “It’s alright. It isn’t your fault. He went out like a hero, but a girl can hope, I guess. Thanks for being honest with me.”

Nico nodded. He felt bad for her, he had grown to know Leo over the course of the last couple months, but he hadn’t known him as long as she had. Even Jason hadn’t truly known him as long. No one must be grieving more than her. Before he could stop himself, Nico had placed his hand on Piper’s shoulder. 

“When I’m better, if you want, I can see how he is doing, like, whether he made it to Elysium or something.” He offered.

“You’d do that?” Piper asked.

“Yeah.” He replied. And he meant it. He wanted to have friends, and he was willing to try this time. And maybe helping Piper get closure was a way to try. 

“Well then” She said. “Let me do something for you.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “What could you possibly do for me right now?”

Piper smiled mischievously and put her hand on Nico’s forehead.

“You are going to sleep now. You will have nice, peaceful dreams. Don’t you feel sleepy?”

Nico began to feel drowsy. Like a toddler, he began to fight it, but Piper’s charmspeak was too strong. He let her push him down onto the pillows and pull the blanket up around him. His eyes felt heavier, and he could feel the call of unconsciousness. Brushing back his hair, Piper kissed his forehead, like a mother would do to a child. 

“Sweet dreams, Nico.” She whispered.

Nico’s eyes started to close as he watched her leave. 

“Damn it.” he mumbled as he let sleep overcome him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are appreciated :)


	3. Infirmary Day 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my Gods! I am so sorry I took so long to update. I kinda lost my drive and my confidence in my writing for a little bit. But hopefully I will get back in the swing of it soon. This chapter is shorter and a little awkward, but things will start to pick up soon.

Nico woke up to the sun shining in his eyes. Besides a splitting headache and feeling like he was going to die of hunger, he felt rested. Sitting up on the bed, he noticed a note on the table beside his hospital bed beside a plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. He leaned over and picked it up.

'Nico,  
I have room inspection duty and a head counselor's meeting this morning. If you wake up before I get back, there is food on the side table. Eat up and I will come check on you soon.  
Will'

Nico was confused. As far as he was aware, counselor meetings were every Wednesday unless there were issues, and last time he checked, it was a Monday. Looking across the room, he saw that most of the other patients in the infirmary had left, and the few that were still there were being taken care of by one of Will's siblings, a young girl with blond hair named Kayla...well Nico thought her name was Kayla.

"Excuse me" he called out to her, "can you tell me what day it is?"

Kayla jumped at the sound of Nico's voice. She turned around and visibly relaxed after seeing him. 

"Oh Gods, you scared me." She said, walking over to Nico's bed. "Good to see you are awake though, Will will be happy, you slept for over 24 hours straight."

Nico blanched. "I did?"

Kayla nodded. "Yeah, Piper's charmspeak worked a little too well. She knocked out everyone within a hundred feet. When most of us woke up, Will wouldn't let us near you- insisted that you needed the rest and that he'd take care of you personally."

Nico blushed. It had been years since he had someone who insisted on taking sole care of him. It pained him to remember how Bianca had hurt him, but it was nice to have someone take care of him. 

Kayla handed him the plate of food with a weak smile. It gave Nico an uneasy feeling, like something was really, really wrong. 

"Thanks." Nico told Kayla as she walked back to her other patients. He watched her tend to the others who were injured. He couldn't place his finger on it, but something was off about her behavior. She began to cough violently into a rag she was holding. Then she looked at it before shoving it quickly into her pocket. His eyebrow rose. That was definitely not normal. But Kayla then left the infirmary, and Nico decided it wasn't anything to worry about.

Nico picked at the food in front of him. Despite being voracious, he had trouble keeping it down due to it being lukewarm. 

'What I wouldn't give to have Leo nearby' Nico thought. Then he remembered. Suddenly, he didn't feel so much like eating anymore. He didn't know why he felt so torn up over Leo's death, considering he barely knew the guy, but somehow he felt that he had. Despite having maybe two conversations with him, Leo was a guy that one couldn't help but like. 

Will came into the infirmary then with a look of frustration on his face. Upon seeing Nico awake though, he broke into a smile. "Hey Sleepyhead!" 

Nico smiled back. "Morning Sunshine."

Will made a face. "Don't call me that."

Nico grinned. "Why not, Sunshine? Bad day at the office?"

The weight of what he had just said hit Nico like a truck. He turned bright red and covered his mouth with his hands. 

Will gaped at him. "Did Nico di Angelo just make a joke?" 

Nico said nothing, and Will crossed the room and sat down on the cot. "But to answer your joke, yes, it has been a rough day. Rachel and Ella haven't made any progress on the Syllabine books and none of us are hearing from our Dad."

"I'm sure it will all work out real soon." Nico started, "I mean, yeah your dad pissed Zeus off royally, and yeah Zeus is overkill with his punishments but I'm sure he won't do anything like kill your dad or anything."

Will looked pale. "You think he could kill my dad?"

Nico immediately regretted saying anything. "No. I mean I think the point of being a God is that you're immortal, so it probably goes against laws of nature to kill a God." He remedied.

Will still looked pale, but relaxed. "Yeah, you're right. Anyway, I didn't check on your wounds while you were sleeping, so if it's alright with you, I'll look over them one more time and then you can go back to your cabin."

Nico shoved the sleeve of his scrubs up his arm so Will could look at his wounds. He tried everything he could not to focus on how the healer was touching him, but failed miserably, and ended up with an army of skeletal butterflies in his stomach. Finally after a couple minutes, Will stopped investigating his arm and stood up. 

"Looks like you're good to go", Will said. 

Nico noticed that while Will was smiling, his eyes looked sad, but didn't say anything. He wasn't sure he it was any of his business to ask what was obviously bothering Will. So instead, he stood up as well. 

"I'll wash these and bring them back to you" Nico told Will, gesturing to the hideous scrubs he was wearing. "It will be nice to wear something fashionable for a change."

Will snorted. Nico smiled. 

Suddenly, Annabeth ran into the infirmary, followed closely by Percy, who was carrying a dark haired girl about their age. Annabeth was panting and a wild look was in her eyes. She looked at Will and managed to breathe out a sentence.

"We have a new camper..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like and review! I thrive on reviews.

**Author's Note:**

> Wills rant: Werewolf...of course. I should have known that. Now then the best way to deal with those is usually cleaning and general antibiotics but then again you only promised me three days and I don't think these could heal in three days with normal healing on top of your issues with fading due to the shadow travel so I guess I will have to resort to my godly gift so please don't hate me because this is gonna suck a little and I may burst your eardrums.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please review if you can, I'd appreciate it!


End file.
